Non-conducting covering for pipes



(No Model.)

I. M. THOMSON.

NON-OONDUGTING COVERING FOR PIPBS.

No. 366,354.- Patented July 12, 1887.

Wi nesses, I I 71 6 Zfii? l c/ m 9% N PETERS PnqwLilhn l-a hur.Wilmington, Dv c.

UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE,

' FRANK M. THOMSON, OF NElV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO SHIELDS &

BROXVN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

NON-CONDUCTING COVERING FOR PIPES.

$PECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 366,354, dated July 12,1887.

Application filed November 23, 1886. Serial No.219,565. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M. Tnonson, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Non-0onductingGoverings for Pipes, Boilers, and other Surfaces, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in non-conducting coverings forpipes, boilers, and other surfaces subject to undesirable extremes oftemperature, and is composed of one or more layers of nonconductingmaterial of the same kind, or alternated with or constituting a fillingor layers of a different kind, as the case may be, to attain the desiredeffect in a given application thereof.

Prior to my invention the materials used in the construction ofnon-conducting coverings, whether in the form of one or more layers oras a filling for layers of other materials, have had an intrinsic andcommercial value for other purposes than pipeeoverings, and besides, inmany cases, are not good non-conductors at best, and, furthermore, aresoon destroyed as such when exposed to the high degree of heat to whichsaid coverings are nec essarily frequently subjected.

The object of this invention is to utilize, either in the form of one ormore layers, or as a filling for non-conducting coverings, a hithertowaste product having little or no intrinsic or commercial value, andhaving a fiber naturally a non-conductor, the natural nonconductingfunction of which fiber and the destruction of that function is not onlyprevented, but this functionis promoted by the element necessary to itsproduction.

To these ends my invention consists in a non-conducting covering ofsponge,preferabl y waste sponge, in one or more layers, or as a fillingfor and in combination with layers of other material, whether said othermaterials are good non-conductors or otherwise.

In carrying out my invention the covering may be in tubular form, asshown in Figure 1, or in the form of a layer or layers, as shown in Fig.2, and wholly of sponge, and one or both surfaces of either of theseforms may,'if desired, be coated with any plastic materialsuch ascement, plaster-of-paris, &c.-for excluding air, or the sponge may haveits outer surface covered with any of the usual fabrics, papers, orfibrous sheets, commonly employed in making such coverings, whether saidfabrics, papers, or fibrous sheets are plain, indented, or corrugated,or, as illustrated in the different forms in Figs. 3 and 4,respectively, cylindrical and in the form of flat layers. Said spongemay be employed as a filling between layers of a different material,whether of fabric, paper, or fibrous sheets, and either plain, indented,or corrugated.

In the drawings, A indicates the sponge, and B coverings of any of theother materials in any of the forms, plain orotherwise, above referredto. \Vhen used alone, the sponge pieces, and necessarily in pieces, areheld in the form of a layer or layers by any ordinary means, materials,or devices adapted for that purpose-such, for example, as a cement orglue of some character, or by stitching with a thread substantiallyindestructible by heat, or which will hold the pieces of sponge untilheat has rendered it a substantially compact layer or caused the piecesto adhere together. \Vhen one or more layers of other materials arecombined with the sponge, such layer and sponge may be secured togetherin any well-known manner, or the layer of sponge be placed upon thearticle or device to be covered and the layer of other material placedand held on the sponge layer by any suitable means or manner to hold thepieces of sponge in position.

I have discovered by practical and satis factory experiment that spongeis not only a good non-conductor of heat in its natural state, but thatits non-conducting functions are, if anything, improved after beingsubjected to heat sufficient to char it.

Sponge, which is not only clean but entirely free of saline matter,requires considerable heat to char it, and may therefore be used as acovering for surfaces only moderately heated without being charred; buteven when so cleaned it does not burn to an ash, but chars at ahigherdegree of heat, and in this charred state is even a better non-conductorthan in its natural condition. Usually, however, sponge is cleansed toremove sand, gelatinous and other matter by being thoroughly washed inseawater, and as a result when the sponge is dried contains salinematter. This saline matter in the sponge reduces the liability of thesponge to char, and hence sponge containing saline matter may be used asa covering for and on surfaces heated to such an extent that withoutsuch saline matter the sponge would be charred. The salinematter,however, which almost invariably exists in sponge, whether refuseor otherwise, has an important effect on sponge as a nonconductor, evenwhen the heat of the surface to which the sponge covering is applied issufiicient to char the sponge,notwithstanding the presence of salinematter, for the saline matter materially promotes the quality,and hencethe non-conducting effect, of the charred sponge, because it hardens and.toughens the resultantchar, and besides adds to it its own function ofresisting destruction by heat, and reduces the porosity of the charredmass.

, In practice I prefer and propose to use waste sponge, of which thereis a large supply resulting from trimmings and imperfect pieces nottrimmings, and unavdidably gathered while gatheringsponge of amerchantable character; or I may use common coarse sponge without havingto treat it to such an extent as to give it a merchantablevvalue forpresent uses; but my invention includes the use of sponge, broadly,without regard to the degree of treatment it may have received tocleanse it, or whether or not it contains saline matter, for after beingonce freed' from gelatinous matter the after treatment of the spongeonly modifies its non-conducting functions to an extent merely aquestion of degree; nor would it be any departure from my invention, tocombine with the sponge layer or filling other fibrous material, so longas the sponge predominates.

.In conclusion, it maybe added that by the employment of sponge,'andparticularly by erings of the character-herein referred to, a goodnon-conducting covering is not only produced, but one that is moredurable and cheaper in proportion to the effects obtained than is nowobtained.

FRANK M. THOMSON.

Witnesses:

EDMUND E. PRICE, GEO. 13. WHITE, 'Jr.,

what is known as waste sponge, in cov-

